Ascension Parish Burial Ground

The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, including three Nobel Prize winners.

The former chapel of rest at the Ascension Parish Burial Ground

Although a Church of England site, the cemetery includes the graves of many non-conformists, reflecting the demographics of the parish in the 19th and 20th centuries, which covered much of West Cambridge.[1]

It was established in 1857 while the city of Cambridge was undergoing rapid expansion, although the first burial was not until 1869.[1] It covers one and a half acres and contains 1,500 graves with 2,500 burials.[1] Originally surrounded by open fields, it is now bounded by trees and the gardens of detached houses,[2] and is a designated city wildlife site.[1]

In 2020 it was formally closed to new burials by an Order in Council,[3] and responsibility for its upkeep was transferred to Cambridge City Council.[4]

The former chapel of rest is now used as the workshop of letter-carver Eric Marland.[5][6]

Graves and memorials of notable individuals

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Grave of astronomer John Couch Adams and wife Eliza Adams
 
Grave of Sir Robert Stawell Ball and wife Lady Frances Elizabeth Ball.
 
Memorial to Sarah Clackson
 
Gravestone of Sir Francis Darwin, FRS and his daughter Frances Cornford
 
Gravestone of philosopher G. E. Moore OM and wife Dorothy Moore
 
Wittgenstein's gravestone in 2021

Darwin family

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Five members of the family of Charles Darwin are interred here: two sons: Sir Francis Darwin[8] and Sir Horace Darwin,[8] two daughters-in-law: Lady Florence Darwin (third wife of Francis) and Lady Ida Darwin[8] (wife of Horace), and a granddaughter: Frances Cornford,[8] the daughter of Francis Darwin by his second wife, Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, née Crofts.

Charles Darwin himself is buried in Westminster Abbey.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground". Faculty of Divinity 50 Treasures. University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  2. ^ "St Giles Cemetery, Cambridge". Parks & Gardens. The Hestercombe Gardens Trust. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Privy Council Office - Burial Act 1853". The Gazette. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Cambridge's 'most historic burial ground' to be managed by city council following royal decision". Cambridge City Council. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. ^ "History of Churches & Burial Grounds". Church at Castle (website run on behalf of local churches). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. ^ Webb, Takka Productions Limited | Design by Webb &. "The Art Workers' Guild | Eric Marland". The Art Workers’ Guild. Retrieved 29 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq "A Cambridge Necropolis" by Dr. Mark Goldie, March 2000, for the Friends of The Parish of The Ascension Burial Ground
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Ascension Parish Burial Ground Formerly St.Giles' and St. Peter's Burial Ground, Cambridge City Council Planning Department, 1995
  9. ^ a b c Hayes, John (2020). "G.E.M. ANSCOMBE—Irish-born philosopher". History Ireland. 28 (5): 42–44. ISSN 0791-8224. JSTOR 26934660.
  10. ^ "Bendall, Cecil". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Besant, William Henry". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Blackman, Frederick Frost". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Burn, Robert". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Capstick, John Walton". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  15. ^ "[Obituary] Sarah J. Clackson". The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists. 40 (1–4). 2003. hdl:2027/spo.0599796.0040.001:02.
  16. ^ a b c "Britain's brainiest cemetery". BBC News. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Ewing, James Alfred". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Roberto Gerhard: Selected Works". Virtuoso Channel. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Hobson, Ernest William". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Casualty Details: Hopkinson, Bertram". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  21. ^ Parry, R. St John (2013). Henry Jackson, O.M. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781107630949.
  22. ^ "Liveing, George Downing". Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Henry Richards Luard". Trinity College Chapel. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  24. ^ "Casualty Details: Matthew, Arthur Gordon". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  25. ^ "Cambridge Individuals". MacTutor. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Captain Robert Williams Michell". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  27. ^ Knewstubb, Peter (2012). "William Loudon Mollison (1851–1929)" (PDF). Clare Association Annual: 65–67. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Obituary, Mr. Andrew Munro, Queens' College, Cambridge". The Times. 3 July 1935.
  29. ^ "Search Results". catalogues.royalsociety.org.
  30. ^ Goldie, Mark (2009). A Guide to Churchill College, Cambridge. pp. 62–63.
  31. ^ "Rivers, William Halse Rivers". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37898. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  32. ^ "Huntingdon Road: chapel for Ascension Parish Burial Ground". Cambridge 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  33. ^ The Times obituary, 18 August 1947.
  34. ^ "History of Churches and Burial Grounds". Church at Castle. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Taylor, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36427. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  36. ^ "Funeral of Mr. Vansittart", The Cambridge Review, vol. 3, no. 68, Cambridge Review Committee, p. 280, 1882
  37. ^ "Trinity College Chapel - Denys Arthur Winstanley". Trinity College, Cambridge. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Wittgenstein's Grave". www.britishwittgensteinsociety.org.
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52°13′03″N 0°06′00″E / 52.2176°N 0.1001°E / 52.2176; 0.1001